The Big Thaw
The Big Thaw is the twenty-fifth episode of the second season. Plot It is a Winter's morning and the snow lies everywhere as the eye can see. Bill and Ben pop up and Weed asks what they are going to do today. Bill says that he and Ben are going to play snowballs, but Ben says they did that yesterday so he says that they're going to make a slide, but Weed says they did that the day before yesterday so she suggests they can find their football and have a kick-about. Bill and Ben think a game of football is a great idea but there is one problem - they don't know where their football is. Bill asks Weed if she's seen the ball, but she hasn't so she asks him when he last had it, but Bill can't remember so the flowerpot men start a search. Bill and Ben ask Gnome first but he doesn't answer as he is made of concrete. The flowerpot men think they remember playing with the ball near Thistle so they go to ask her if she's seen it. When Bill and Ben get to Thistle's corner, they slip on the ice and Thistle makes a joke about it. The flowerpot men ask Thistle if she's seen their football, but she hasn't so they go to look somewhere else. What Bill and Ben don't know is that their football is stuck up the drainpipe and Thistle is secretly hiding it from them. At the end of the garden, Whoops is in his compost heap but he can't do much composting as the snow is very thick. Bill and Ben arrive and ask Whoops if he's seen their football, he hasn't but he knows a game they can play - the compost game, they each have to take a handful of compost and whoever has the biggest handful is the winner. Bill and Ben don't think the compost game sounds like a lot of fun so they say goodbye. Bill and Ben go to Slowcoach's house to ask him if he's seen their football, Slowcoach hasn't seen it and says they need to get themselves a good book. When Bill and Ben leave, some water drips on Slowcoach even though it's not raining. Bill and Ben think they might have left their ball in the potting shed but before they can go in, they slip on the ice and fall into a snowdrift. The flowerpot men climb out of the drift, go into the shed and look for their football. The ball isn't in the shed so Bill and Ben go out and wonder where to look next. Bill and Ben both feel a drip of water but as Slowcoach has said, it isn't raining and they still haven't found their football. Bill and Ben decide to look in the greenhouse next so they go there. Ketchup is asleep so Bill and Ben wake him up making him think it's the sauce-works coming to get him until he sees it's actually the flowerpot men who ask him if he's seen their football, but Ketchup hasn't seen it either so Bill and Ben leave and feel another drip of water. Bill and Ben wonder whether they might have kicked the ball into the garden next door last time they played football so they dash through the fence to find out. Rose hasn't seen the football and asks why they can't play something like tennis or croquet. On the way to their way to the end of the garden, Bill and Ben feel more drips of water and when they get there, they ask Whimsy if she's seen their football, but she hasn't either. Bill and Ben have been looking for a long time now, they've asked everyone they know but there is still no sign of the football. Bill and Ben walk glumly back to the bottom of the garden and Weed asks if they enjoyed their game of football, but they obviously haven't as they couldn't find the ball. Bill and Ben tell Weed that they keep getting wet and she tells them it's the snow thawing because the weather is getting warmer so the snow is beginning to melt. Bill and Ben can see Weed is right, the snow isn't quite as thick as it had been anymore, but they still haven't found their football. Then Bill and Ben remember that there is one person they haven't asked - Boo. Boo is fast asleep inside the kennel which drips as the snow on the roof melts. Bill and Ben arrive and water drips on Boo, he thinks the flowerpot men have come for a water fight so they tell him that actually the snow is thawing and ask if he's seen their football. Boo hasn't seen the ball until he does see it up the drainpipe next to Thistle. Bill and Ben realize Thistle has been hiding their football from them which makes cross. At last Bill and Ben can play football, they do kicks, head-bounces, knee-bouncing and Ben scores a goal. Bill kicks the football onto the roof of the house and it and a big pile of snow lands on Thistle which Bill and Ben think serves her right after her trick. Bill and Ben have played football all afternoon and now they are quite tired. When the flowerpot men climb into their flowerpots, they feel quite sad that the snow is going and Weed tells them not to be sad because when the snow thaws, it means Spring is on the way. Weed starts saying all the things that will happen when Spring comes but Bill and Ben are too tired to listen, even though as Weed says, it is well on its way. Characters * Bill and Ben * Weed * Slowcoach * Thistle * Whoops * Whimsy * Boo * Ketchup * Rose * Gnome Locations * The Bottom of the Garden * The Shed * Slowcoach's House * Thistle's Corner * The Kennel * The End of the Garden * The Greenhouse * Next Door's Garden Cast * John Thomson as the narrator, Bill, Slowcoach and Whoops * Jimmy Hibbert as Ben, Boo and Ketchup * Eve Karpf as Weed, Thistle, Whimsy and Rose Watch Category:Bill and Ben episodes Category:Series 2 episodes Category:Episodes written by Jimmy Hibbert